One Year Left to Play-Chapter 230 - 78: Crazy Debut!
The 12-point difference looks big, but opening up the score was actually just a matter of the last minute and a half of the third quarter.
Grant Hill rested for a minute and wilted for half a minute during that minute and a half, and in that time, with Grant Hill not toughening up, the Pistons were struck with an 8-0 run!
In today's NBA, there are still traces of the Demon Bird era. Fast-paced offense and defense aren't a problem for players, fans, or experts, especially considering there were three teams last season with average scores over 110.
But to seize the opportunity to perform like this in a tense game, the Brooklyn Nets' performance is truly surprising!
The viewership for this game is high, with fans coming to see Grant Hill.
Grant Hill racked up 33 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals in three quarters—impressive!
But Zhang Hao's 33 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks… just as impressive!
And he's a rookie!
Still a highly doubted 18-year-old high school rookie!
This national broadcast and the McDonald's Slam Dunk Contest are different; this is a prime-time hot game… Grant Hill's hot game.
But the beneficiary is Zhang Hao!
No matter the final result of the game, he is truly becoming famous overnight!
The Pistons played great, Grant Hill was formidable, but the Brooklyn Nets are still leading by 12 points!
If Randy Whitman knew before the season that the Pistons had such strength, he might never have even considered the thought of winning.
At this point, the pre-game "underestimation" of the old impression of the Pistons actually turned out to be a good thing.
It's because of that old impression that they could start playing with confidence right from the beginning.
But now Randy Whitman is very nervous, even Butch Baird, who doesn't understand coaching much, is surrounding the assistants to watch the setup.
Stay calm!
At this time, Randy Whitman is trying hard to keep calm, thinking about the last score of the third quarter… He turned to Zhang Hao and asked, "Can you still run?"
Zhang Hao nodded: "I was just getting warmed up… ah, just started exerting myself."
It sounded a bit weird, but Randy Whitman didn't care, as long as he could run, whether Zhang Hao was forcing himself or not, they couldn't substitute him now.
33 points!
Without Zhang Hao, how is the team supposed to maintain its current strength?
Randy Whitman couldn't think of a way, there was no one to use, no matter how good the method was, it was useless.
Although continuing to let a clearly fatigued rookie play isn't a great idea, there's no better option.
But Zhang Hao on his side definitely needs to keep playing!
Now he realized, the later it is in the game, the more prominent the "Single Rider" role becomes! Especially in a tight game.
In this era with not many quality role players, an 8-10 player rotation is the norm. Tension means both teams are heavily consumed. At this point, who can stop him when he charges?
This was something Zhang Hao didn't consider when he first got this skill.
But it truly is like this!
There are significant limitations, it requires players good at passing, which they have—Kenny Anderson and Chales are both great passers. Their point guard lineup is excellent across the league.
Also, there needs to be players who can protect rebounds, and they coincidentally have that too!
Feeling Zhang Hao's fiery gaze, Jason Williams felt his heart tighten…
...
Intermission ends, and the starters for the last quarter take the court.
Sure enough, Grant Hill continues to play in the final quarter, Joe Dumars, Alan Houston, Edith Soper, and Ratliff took the court as well.
For the Brooklyn Nets, Kenny Anderson, Graham, Zhang Hao, Jason Williams, and PJ Brown took the court.
Alan Houston, looking at his fellow company associate and even the boss of the agency, Zhang Hao, felt incredible!
Just yesterday, he was thinking about presenting as a senior in front of Zhang Hao, but didn't realize Zhang Hao would be this fierce!
If the Brooklyn Nets lacked Zhang Hao's 33 points, they would've scored less than 60 points in three quarters. Even if they freed up those shot attempts to others who could score, without Zhang Hao, it wouldn't be as easy for others to score. Counting up, without Zhang Hao, achieving those scores against the Pistons' defense wouldn't be easy, at best, they'd get just over 60 points in three quarters!
In the three quarters of the game, the Pistons players truly recognize Zhang Hao and his talent and strength!
The final quarter begins, the Brooklyn Nets start attacking first.
Kenny Anderson pushed to the frontcourt without any extra movement, directly starting a single play.
Once falling into a positional battle, it all depends on him.
He rested the entire third quarter, making him one of the fresh forces among the Brooklyn Nets' main players.
A beautiful straight line accelerate breakthrough and close range floater… missed.
This time, Grant Hill protected the defensive rebound well.
Transitioning, the Pistons attacked, and the Brooklyn Nets' defense was straightforward. Zhang Hao and Jason Williams squatted under the basket,
With this lineup, don't even consider defense, they can't stop the Pistons from creating positions for mid-range shots. PJ Brown worked hard to help defense, just forcing the Pistons to pass the ball a few more times.
But that's already enough, whatever can tire the opponent out a bit more does. Anyway, PJ Brown didn't play in the third quarter and is the second fresh force of the game.
The idea was to have Kenny Anderson and PJ Brown run and play while Zhang Hao, in Randy Whitman's view, was simply a distraction point—obviously fatigued.
This time, after briefly resting during intermission, Grant Hill caught Alan Houston's return pass and shot steadily, hitting the jump shot from the right side top corner of the free throw line.
